Internet At Work

Today, a global e-mail was sent out reminding everyone that the Internet at work was to not be used for personal Internet surfing.  Ha, I say to that, and I will tell you why.  First of all, I come from a background of working in a school with unregulated Internet usage except for file sharing sites.  It was the norm for anyone to search anything.  Now I have moved to the corporate world where not everyone has Internet access.  I first found a loop hole to get it, and once that loop hole was closed, I got it the legit way by being approved by the VP.

My reasoning for needing that access was sound, having a Mac, I need to get Apple updates for my computer.  Being the AV guy, I need to be able to look up equipment to purchase, and learn about new stuff that is coming out.  And since I have started working here, having the Internet access has helped out in almost every project that I have worked on.

Now I will admit, I don't always use it for business.  I check my bank account, I find new programs, and I read the news, etc.  In some people's eyes, this is very wrong.  In my eyes, I am taking care of personal business while my computer is rendering video like it is right now as I right this.  But I don't think that people should be afraid to use the Internet at work, and corporations that restrict it down to nothing are fools (except certain situations where there is a need for security).  A professor of mine once said that you can't expect people to do work all the time, and it's true.  He said that Monday morning and Friday afternoon are the least productive times, and instead of punishing people, let them relax.  Happy employees will be more productive when they are working than unhappy employees that just go through the paces.

To those that are in charged of these decisions I say this.  Give people access to the Internet (Restrict file sharing and porn sites to keep everyone from getting sued of course).  Continue to monitor, or at least keep logs of everyone so you know where they go during the day, but don't look at it.  The only time you should need this data is if a problem arises.  If you have an employee that is under performing, than check out what he is doing.  Perhaps that person needs to be restricted, or even let go because they can't balance their time.

All of this can be related to a method of child raising that my parents believe in.  You don't child proof the house, you house proof the child.  In other words, you don't put locks on all the doors and such so that the child can't get there, instead you teach the child not to go in that cabinet with the bleach.  If they break the rules, then you punish.  A child learns better when they have create the restrictions, not when you put a physical lock on a door for them.  The same thing is true with adults.  By restricting access, a person doesn't learn time management, they just play more solitaire on their PC, wasting time, when at least that time could be spent reading the news (or even industry news).